Agartala/Shillong, Jan 10 (IANS) The northeastern region, with its huge energy potential -- 50,000 MW, by some estimates -- could soon become the "power house of India". And taking a small first step in this direction, it is expected to feed the rest of the country up to 1,100 MW by the end of this year, energy experts say.

Seven northeastern states, excluding Sikkim, currently have an installed capacity of 2,690 MW, but as some of the plants are very old, the output is some 100 MW short of the peak-hour demand of 2,200-2,300 MW. However, there is a surplus of 300 MW during off-peak hours, while another 767 MW of capacity will be added by year-end. Sikkim is self-sufficient at 95.70 MW.

State-run North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), a mini-ratna company under the Union Ministry of Power, alone generates 1,290 MW from its seven power plants -- a mix of hydro-electric, gas- and solar-based units.

"NEEPCO's generation capacity would rise to 2,060 MW by this end-2017 as commissioning of three more power projects would be completed much before the end of this year," NEEPCO Chairman and Managing Director A.G. West Kharkongor told IANS.

"The company is now commissioning three power projects -- 600 MW and 110 MW capacity plants in Arunachal Pradesh and another of 60 MW capacity in Mizoram," he added.

"If the government allows NEEPCO, it would supply surplus power to other states of the country," Kharkongor said.

And, to feed the surplus power from the northeast to other parts of India, the state-run Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) has erected 800-kv capacity and 1,728-km-long High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission line from Biswanath Chariyalli in Guwahati to Agra in Uttar Pradesh at an investment of Rs 12,000 crore ($1.8 billion).

The power ministry has estimated the hydro-power potential of the northeastern region at 58,971 MW, almost 40 percent of the country's total potential, but only less than two per cent (1,200 MW) has been exploited till last year.

Energy expert Sudhindra Kumar Dube said that the power generation potential of the northeastern region must be utilised with proper planning.

"The region has not only potential to generate a huge amount of hydro-power but also has scope to set up more gas- and coal-based plants in the region," Dube told IANS.

NEEPCO also plans to generate at least 1,500 MW from non-conventional sources of energy such as solar and wind power in the next five years.

With a population of 45.58 million in the northeastern region, the eight states including Sikkim, have a per capita electricity consumption of 257.98 kilowatt hour (kWh) against the national average of 778.71 kWh.

State Power and Transport Minister Manik Dey said that Tripura has agreed to supply an additional 100 MW of electricity to Bangladesh over and above the 100 MW being supplied since March 23, 2016.

"The Bangladesh government has sought more electricity from India to tackle its power crisis in the eastern part of the country. India's power ministry recently wanted to know whether the Tripura government is ready to provide additional 100 MW of power to Bangladesh. We have accordingly agreed," Dey told IANS.

A corporate retail face of IANS Group, www.ianslive.in presents to you a vivid world of news, views, features, gossips, entertainment, business, sports, international, videos/photos and what not.

Operational 24/7 and currently available in English, the portal brings in a youthful approach in its news coverage, with catchy headlines and impeccable stories that are reliable, accurate and balanced.

One of the USPs of the portal is its exhaustive video/lifestyle and photo galleries, that stores all the latest photos and entertainment videos.

What makes ianslive.in different from other news portals is the authenticity of the information on offer.

We welcome you to visit ianslive.in to have a feel of various interesting features of the portal and spare few minutes to fill the subscription form.

By accessing ianslive.in, you have read, understood and agree to be legally bound by the terms of the following disclaimer and user agreement:

This Site is owned and operated by IANS Group and contains material which is derived in whole or in part from material supplied by the Company, various news agencies and other sources, and is protected by international copyright and trademark laws. Except where specifically authorised, the reader may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit or distribute in any way any material from this site including code and software.

The Company shall have the right at any time to change or modify the terms and conditions applicable to user's use of the ianslive.in

Terms of Use:

By visiting our site you are agreeing to be bound by the following terms and conditions. We may change these terms and conditions at any time. Your continued use of ianslive.in means that you accept any new or modified terms and conditions that we come up with.

The term 'ianslive.in' is used through this entire Terms of Use document to refer to the website, its owners and the employees and associates of the owner

LICENSE

ianslive.in hereby grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-assignable and non-transferable license to access ianslive.in provided and expressly conditioned upon your agreement that all such access and use shall be governed by all of the terms and conditions set forth in this USER AGREEMENT.

COPYRIGHT & NO RETRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION:

ianslive.in as well as the design and information contained in this site is the valuable, exclusive property of IANS Group, and nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as transferring or assigning any such ownership rights to you or any other person or entity.

You may not resell, redistribute, broadcast or transfer information, software and applications or use the information, software and applications provided by ianslive.in in a searchable, machine-readable database unless separately and specifically authorized in writing by ianslive.in prior to such use.

You may not rent, lease, sublicense, distribute, transfer, copy, reproduce, publicly display, publish, adapt, store or time-share ianslive.in, any part thereof, or any of the software, application or information received or accessed there from to or through any other person or entity unless separately and specifically authorized in writing by ianslive.in prior to such use.

In addition, you may not remove, alter or obscure any copyright, legal or proprietary notices in or on any portions of ianslive.in without prior written authorization. Except as set forth herein, any other use of the information, software or application contained in this site requires the prior written consent of ianslive.in and may require a separate fee.

DELAYS IN SERVICES:

Neither ianslive.in (including its and their directors, employees, affiliates, agents, representatives or subcontractors) shall be liable for any loss or liability resulting, directly or indirectly, from delays or interruptions due to electronic or mechanical equipment failures, telephone interconnect problems, defects, weather, strikes, walkouts, fire, acts of God, riots, armed conflicts, acts of war, or other like causes. ianslive.in shall have no responsibility to provide you access to ianslive.in while interruption of ianslive.in is due to any such cause shall continue.

LIABILITY DISCLAIMER:

YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THE WEBSITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

THE CONTENTS, INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, FEATURES AND SERVICES PUBLISHED ON THIS WEB SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. CHANGES ARE PERIODICALLY ADDED TO THE CONTENTS HEREIN. IANSLIVE.IN AND/OR ITS RESPECTIVE SUPPLIERS MAY MAKE IMPROVEMENTS AND/OR CHANGES IN THIS WEB SITE AT ANY TIME. THIS WEB SITE MAY BE TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE FROM TIME TO TIME DUE TO REQUIRED MAINTENANCE, TELECOMMUNICATIONS INTERRUPTIONS, OR OTHER DISRUPTIONS. IANSLIVE.IN (AND ITS OWNERS, SUPPLIERS, CONSULTANTS, ADVERTISERS, AFFILIATES, PARTNERS, EMPLOYEES OR ANY OTHER ASSOCIATED ENTITIES, ALL COLLECTIVELY REFERRED TO AS ASSOCIATED ENTITIES HEREAFTER) SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO USER OR MEMBER OR ANY THIRD PARTY SHOULD IANSLIVE.IN EXERCISE ITS RIGHT TO MODIFY OR DISCONTINUE ANY OR ALL OF THE CONTENTS, INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, FEATURES AND SERVICES PUBLISHED ON THIS WEBSITE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL IANSLIVE.IN AND/OR ITS ASSOCIATED ENTITIES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OF THIS WEB SITE OR WITH THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE THIS WEBSITE, OR FOR ANY CONTENTS, INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, FEATURES AND SERVICES OBTAINED THROUGH THIS WEB SITE, OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS WEB SITE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF IANSLIVE.IN OR ANY OF ITS ASSOCIATED ENTITIES HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES.

LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES

The links in this site will allow you to leave ianslive.in. The linked sites are not under the control of ianslive.in. ianslive.in has not reviewed, nor approved these sites and is not responsible for the contents or omissions of any linked site or any links contained in a linked site. The inclusion of any linked site does not imply endorsement by ianslive.in of the site. Third party links to ianslive.in shall be governed by a separate agreement.

INDEMNIFICATION:

YOU SHALL INDEMNIFY, DEFEND AND HOLD HARMLESS IANSLIVE.IN (INCLUDING ITS AND THEIR OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATES, GROUP COMPANIES, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES OR SUBCONTRACTORS) FROM ANY AND ALL CLAIMS AND LOSSES IMPOSED ON, INCURRED BY OR ASSERTED AS A RESULT OF OR RELATED TO: (a) your access and use of ianslive.in (b) any non-compliance by user with the terms and conditions hereof; or (c) any third party actions related to users receipt and use of the information, whether authorized or unauthorized. Any clause declared invalid shall be deemed severable and not affect the validity or enforceability of the remainder. These terms may only be amended in a writing signed by ianslive.in.

JURISDICTION:

The terms of this agreement are exclusively based on and subject to Indian law. You hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of courts in New Delhi, India in all disputes arising out of or relating to the use of this website. Use of this website is unauthorized in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of these terms and conditions, including without limitation this paragraph.